Review of Finding Forrester (2000) by Jason O — 13 Sep 2009

Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown), a black teen who is from the Bronx, is at a difficult path in his life. First of all, he's from one of the toughest places in the country, the Bronx. But, he is getting to the age where he wants to actually do something with his life. Jamal is a polished basketball player, but he has just as much skill and fondness in writing.

Call it coincedence, but Jamal happens to meet and even become friends with a troubled, but famous author by the name of William Forrester (Sean Connery). Mr. Forrester only wrote one book, and that book was written over 40 years ago, but it is still very widely acclaimed. Jamal has a strong interest in touching up his great writing skills and he thinks that Mr. Forrester just might be able to help him on his path.

Like some of the other reviewers mentioned, "Finding Forrester" is a bit cliched, heartwarming, and so on, but that's not to take away from it being a great movie. As always, Sean Connery does a spectacular job of acting, and Rob Brown did a good job of playing as the ambitious Jamal Wallace.

Even as cliched and formulaic as "Finding Forrester" might be, it is still a great movie. If you're like me and you don't really care about how smart a movie is or how original it is in its innovations with plots, scripts, and so on, give "Finding Forrester" a chance. It's well worth it. It's a great movie of inspiration, tough times, and finding the fire inside to be the best you can be. NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2001. I always love self-discovery and coming of age movies!